Course Syllabus

Semester & Location:	Spring 2024 - DIS Copenhagen
Type & Credits:	Elective Course - 3 credits
Major Disciplines:	Child Development, Human Development, Psychology
Prerequisite:	One psychology course at university level.
Faculty Members:	Nikki Hueng (current students please contact via the Canvas Inbox)
Program Contact:	Department email address psy.cns@dis.dk
Time & Place:	Tuesdays and Fridays 8:30-9:50 Classroom: Fi6-Metro 104

Description of Course

What are the psychosocial challenges for teenagers today? Adolescence is often perceived as a period of rapid change with new roles and social settings and that can be extremely turbulent for many young people. But is adolescence only a time of crisis, rebellion and risk-taking behaviors, or does it also contain areas of continuity, conformity and social integration? How are the teenage years understood from a life-span perspective? How are the physiological and cognitive changes of adolescence intertwined with and linked to changing social positions and relationships? And finally, how is adolescence experienced in the Scandinavian context? 

We will focus on and examine developmental psychological theories with regard to nature-nurture, normality-pathology, free will-determinism and individual-society dualities. Students will read recent research exploring issues such as adolescent identity, psychosocial challenges, gender and sexuality, individual autonomy, and peer/familial relationships. We will also discuss mental health concerns, such as depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders, and opportunities for prevention and intervention (at both individual and community-levels) with particular focus on the Scandinavian context. You will also have the opportunity to strengthen your skills in critical thinking, literature research, APA-style writing, and oral and written communication of scientific research to varied audiences.

Faculty

Nicole (Nikki) Hueng

MA (Cognition and Communication, Københavns Universitet, 2021). BA (Psychology major, Neuroscience and Studio Art minors, Lake Forest College, 2018). Previously was a research assistant at the Danish Research Center for Magnetic Resonance (DRCMR) using 7T fMRI to investigate dopamine pathways in the midbrain. Currently teaching as an after school and SEL teacher at the International School of Hellerup. I am originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan and first came to Denmark as a DIS student in the Fall of 2016. I returned to do my masters in August 2019 and have been here ever since. With DIS since 2022.

Learning Objectives

• Identify and synthesize the major themes pertaining to adolescent development to develop a broad understanding of young people’s psychosocial functioning.
• Critically evaluate theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence regarding adolescent development, particularly in a Scandinavian context.
• Develop broad knowledge of certain mental health concerns faced by young people, including, epidemiology, etiology, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.
• Understand methodologies used by psychological scientists and use this knowledge to apply a critical lens toward popular claims about young people’s functioning and wellbeing.
• Demonstrate proficiency in APA-style writing and oral communication of scientific findings.

Field Studies

• Field Study #1: International School of Hellerup
  

  • ISH is an IB school that serves the ages of Pre-K to MYP4. Their mission is to provide the highest quality education in a student-centered environment by empowering individuals to fulfill their human potential to become purposeful life-long learners and responsible global citizens.

• Field Study #2: Rapolitics 
  • Rapolitics is a non-profit association that works with Danish youth on strengthening their attitude formation, self-esteem, and political courage through hip-hop culture and creativity.

Reading List

Guest Lecturers

• Michael Jensen,  Alkohol og Samfund
  • Alkohol & Samfund is an interest organization. Our goal is to gain broad support for creating a sustainable alcohol culture. Through political advocacy, we are therefore pushing for structural measures that change alcohol culture in Denmark.

• Mads Bank, Faculty at Syddansk Universitet

  • This lecture will center on the critique of this individualizing framework for addressing drug-related issues. We will draw on international research (Alexander, 2008; Mate, 2010) and examine how a state-of-the-art drug treatment facility operates with young people in Copenhagen. Through this exploration, we aim to discuss the potential of a more contextual and culturally informed approach to drug use and treatments. Additionally, we will explore how this perspective can blur the boundaries between treatment, social work, and educational practices.

Approach to Teaching

The purpose of this course is to facilitate dialogue, debate, and critical thinking about adolescent development from various theoretical and empirical perspectives. My goal, therefore, is to offer an open, interactive learning environment in which students will frequently be called upon to answer questions and actively engage with the content. Along with the lectures, majority of the time will be spent on activities, discussions, and the exchange of ideas. Therefore, this class is very much focused on engagement and interacting with your peers. In order to have productive discussions and optimal learning conditions, it is very essential that you do the readings before class. 

**A note about connecting with me**: I'm reachable by email, and will do my best to respond as soon as I'm able to (but also a kind reminder that I do have a life outside of teaching :) ). I'm also very open to meeting you individually to talk about the course, or your experience in Denmark in general. Meetings with faculty does not always have to be about academics! 

Expectations of the Students

The success of this interactive course depends on your serious commitment to truly engage with the material. To that end, I expect you to spend 6 hours every week outside of class preparing for our meetings. You must come to class prepared, having closely read and evaluated the reading assignments, and your class discussions should reflect this careful reading. While taking notes on the reading assignments, try to identify which portions were particularly notable/important and why they caught your attention. Include summaries in your own words, write questions to yourself, agree/disagree with the content, and generally try to delve deeply into a thoughtful evaluation of the reading assignments.

You are expected to behave professionally and participate actively during class and field studies. This includes all of the following:

• • Attend all class meetings, field studies, and related activities.
  • Be punctual and stay for the entire experience.
  • Contribute to shared learning: ask relevant questions, offer critical reflections, and respond respectfully to others’ comments.
  • Put your phone away and turn off notifications on any other electronic devices.

Evaluation & Grading

To be eligible for a passing grade in this class you must complete all of the assigned work.

You will be evaluated based on your performance on the course assignments as outlined below. Additional details will be provided in class.

 

Component	Weight
Attendance, Participation & Engagement	15%
Dialogue Recording #1	10%
Dialogue Recording #2	10%
Midterm Exam	15%
Group Project	30%
Final Exam	20%

 

Attendance, Participation and Engagement

Preparation, attendance, and engagement in classes, field studies, and guest lectures is important because it shows that you are taking responsibility for your own learning. Your participation and engagement grade will be calculated based on your ability to meet the following criteria:

• You attend the class meeting/field study/guest lecture having done the day’s reading.
• You are engaged throughout our class meeting/field study/guest lecture and demonstrate this by prompting discussion and/or responding to your peers by linking comments, asking questions, and drawing connections between readings and themes.
• You listen attentively and respectfully to others (and you avoid dominating or silencing others).
• You offer more than just personal opinion or anecdote – that is, you root your comments in the text we are discussing (e.g., “this reminds me of p. 76 where the authors indicate X”) and link ideas and comments with content from past reading assignments.
• You work collaboratively with people to achieve learning goals when you are placed in a small group.

DIS states that attendance is required for all scheduled classes, Field Studies, and Study Tours. Your absence will only be counted as excused if it is communicated with me prior to the class date you are absent. Please be proactive in your communication with me regarding excused absences. Attendance is pass/fail, and you are allowed up to two unexcused absences before attendance is assessed as a fail. The participation and engagement grade will be reflected upon your active commuication in class, and your commitment to the course work.

Dialogue Recordings

The purpose of the dialogue recordings is for you and a classmate to give your opinions on the field study while also comparing methods used in the US. Recordings should be between 5-10 minutes, and this is of a dialogue between you and your partner discussing about your experience and reflections from the field study. In the recording, please include:

• You and your classmate's name
• Top 3 take aways from your experience there (each)
• Personal opinion about the place and their mission
• Compare similar organizations from the states, or teaching methods for topics targeted by the field study (i.e. how does sex education compare between Sex og Samfund versus a similar US organization?

After the recording, you and your classmate will submit ONE document with a list of references in APA format of research done prior to the recording. This document should abide by these APA standards:

• Double-spaced
• 11 or 12-point font (depending on which font you use)
• 1-inch margins
• For reference format and examples, see: Purdue OWL or Scribbr
• Be submitted as a pdf

The recording is due the Monday after the Field Study by 12:00pm.

Midterm

The purpose of this midterm is to assess your ability to apply concepts learned in class into a form of media that gives factual evidence about adolescents. The medium used will be a social media post, and the message should be understood by both the general public and scholars. You will be assigned to one of the topics that has been taught thus far, and your goal will be to design and write a media post about a specific area within this topic. For example, if you are assigned to biological development, you can create an Instagram post about male puberty. Social media posts could be blog posts, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. This list is not exhaustive, and you are free to utilize other forms of social media, as long as they are able to fulfill the criteria of the rubric. This will be an individual project, and will be due before class. On the day of the midterm, everyone will look at everyone’s submissions (anonymous) and give their own feedback on whether the post meets the rubric’s criteria.

Group Project

In groups of 3-4, your group will create a presentation concerning an existing age-related policy in Scandinavia (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland). For example, you could choose to discuss about the drinking age, age of consent, age restrictions on certain products, and so on. Your goal will be to understand how and why this policy was put into place, and if it makes sense based on scientific justification. Your research should be from credible sources and academic journals/articles (try to avoid blogs, wikipedia, etc). Questions that could be considered would be:

1. How & why the policy was put into place?
2. What would be the reason that age/age range was chosen?
3. Does the policy make sense based on what you've learned in class? Why or why not?
4. What changes would you make to the policy based on the young person's identity or circumstance (i.e. gender, social class, mental health, etc)?
5. Does another country within Scandinavia have a different policy, and do you think it makes a difference?

Your presentation will be graded on your knowledge of the age-related policy, the analysis of its affectiveness based on scientific evidence, and your ability to compare similar policies and their effectiveness. You will also be graded on the effectiveness of your presentation, your ability to work as a group, and how you have the audience interact. After the conclusion of the presentations, there will be an individual feedback assignment reporting on how the group's work ethic was, and it gives you the opportunity to reflect on the members of your team. 

This project is open-ended, in terms that you are free to present the content as you'd like, as long as you reach all of the requirements. Here are some examples of how you could be creative in your presentation:

• Create a PowerPoint presentation and make quizzes along the way
• Write a song and perform with the audience doing some sort of rhythm
• Act out a scenario and break the fourth wall to ask the audience what a character should do
• Construct a boardgame for the class to play
• Make a video of you interviewing teenagers and have the audience write down observations to discuss afterwards

You can be as creative as you want for your presentation of the content, and your idea should be submitted to me at the time discussed in class. That way there is enough time for me to give you feedback and/or give you the all clear to start creating your presentations. 

The audience is also expected to participate and engage with the presentations, however the presenters decide to do it. After the presentation, please upload the content you used to present to Canvas.

Final Paper

The final paper will reflect on a movie. You will watch a movie and write a 4-6 page analysis of how the movie portrays teenagers. Your goal is to not summarize the movie, but give an in depth analysis of how the teenagers in the movie behave and think, using concepts and theories we've learned in class. This paper is open-ended, in the sense that you could give a critique about the movie, explain why the director chose the style he did, how the film grasps the sense of what it is like to be a teenager, and so on. As long as it is not a movie review! There should be at least 5 reputable references, 3 of which could be articles you've read in class. You can choose from the list of movies below, or choose one of your own, as long as it deals with a topic related to adolescence. Feel free to also explore Scandinavian movies! :)

There will be a google sheets made closer to the exam date so you are able to write down the movie you wish to write about. This is to ensure that there aren't 10 people writing about the same movie :) There can only be a max of 2 people writing about the same movie. 

• Perks of Being a Wallflower
• Call Me By Your Name
• Carrie
• The Breakfast Club
• Dead Poets Society
• Love, Simon
• Book Smart
• Lady Bird
• Heathers
• Juno
• Rich Kids (Danish)
• Råzone (Danish)
• Supervoksen (Danish)
• Låt den rätte komma in (Swedish)
• Fucking Åmål (Swedish)

Disability and Resource Statement

Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the Office of Academic Support (email) to coordinate this.  In order to receive accommodations, students should inform the instructor of approved DIS accommodations within the first two weeks of classes.

Academic Regulations

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on: 

• Course Enrollment and Grading  
• Academic Expectations and Honor Code 

Class Policy

Late papers/assignments:

• Late papers/assignments will be accepted for up to 3 days after the deadline, but the grade for the paper will be reduced by 10% for each day that it is late.

Late to class:

• Students who are repeatedly late for class will receive a lower participation grade.

Laptops/tablets and phones:

• Laptops/tablets may be used during class for notes. However, I highly encourage to handwrite notes, as this has been seen to be a better learning strategy. Students who use their laptop/tablet for reasons not related to class will have their class participation grade reduced significantly.
• Use of cell phones is not allowed during class (including field trips).
• If your use of technology is due to a learning accommodation required for you to succeed in class, please discuss it with Academic Support or the instructor directly.